Egypt votes on Constitution, Islamist worry about Exclusion

WASHINGTON — Egyptians voted and went to the polls for the first time since the military ousted the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood Mohammed Morsi last year. This is a constitutional referendum that could weaken the Islamist language in the constitution[1] as well as strengthen the police, judiciary and military.

[2]Reuters reported[3] that the police, judiciary and military were chief opponents of the Morsi government, who trampled on free speech by imprisoning bloggers[4] and fired back divisive rhetoric[5] toward the policy, judiciary and the Egyptian military.

Current army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the coup, which was not supported by the Obama administration for some time[6]. Some speculate that these constitutional changes could allow al-Sisi to run for president if he wants to. The Muslim Brotherhood, now declared an illegal and terrorist group[7], has boycotted the vote.

And, for once, Reuters admitted that the mass protests that precluded Morsi’s ouster will probably help these constitutional changes pass. It seems the majority of Egyptian opinion is to forget the brief reign of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, as ousted and former President Morsi stands trial[8] for treason and other charges along with other Muslim Brotherhood leaders[9].